Pro-Palestinian groups served court injunction for protest outside Montreal synagogue

Pro-Palestinian groups were served a court injunction during a demonstration outside a synagogue in Cote-des-Neiges on Tuesday, barring them from protesting within 50 metres of certain Jewish community buildings for a period of 10 days.

The judgment, which was signed by Superior Court Justice Serge Gaudet, comes after pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter demonstrators clashed outside Jewish institutions on consecutive nights.

"There are provisions of the Criminal Code that prohibit having unlawful assemblies with the view of disturbing neighbourhoods while covering your face," said Neil Oberman, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs.

On Monday, protesters blocked access to the Federation CJA building, where three former Israeli soldiers were holding a talk with the community about diplomacy in the region. The demonstration turned violent and two men were arrested.

On Tuesday, many of the same protesters held another rally a few blocks away outside the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, where a group of real estate companies were holding an information session about buying property in Israel.

Among the areas listed with properties for sale were settlements in the occupied West Bank, considered illegal under international law and not recognized by the Government of Canada.

"I call it a hate assembly," said Oberman, of the protests. "An assembly looking to cause intimidation and hatred to an identifiable minority for the only reason that they believe what they're doing is accurate and fair."

Federation CJA and the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue are the plaintiffs that requested the injunction, and both of their buildings are listed among the six where protests will be illegal until March 15.

"I think it's completely ridiculous," said Sarah Boivin, a member of Independent Jewish Voices, one of five groups named as defendants in the injunction. "It is pretending like these protests are against Jewish people while the Israeli military has just massacred 30,000 Palestinians. It's completely devoid of context and they're completely ignoring the fact that we as Jews are co-organizing these demonstrations."

Montreal4Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Alliance4Palestine.qc, and an individual are the other four defendants.

The injunction authorizes the plaintiffs to call upon police to enforce the order. 

But Montreal police have told CTV News that they do not enforce civil court orders, and if the injunction is violated, the plaintiffs would need to ask the court to hold violators in contempt of court and not ask the police to enforce the injunction order.